Lake's New Normal
by MayDayGirl-Save-Our-Ships
Summary: After Lake escapes the train, she's invited to live with the Cosay family. But after escaping the mirror world, traveling through a supernatural train, and fighting for her life, is she really able to live like a normal teenager? She's not sure, but she's willing to fight every day to make this life her new normal.
1. After the Storm

**Chapter 1: After the Storm**

* * *

"Are you ready to go?"

Startled, she looked up, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful sight of the lake before her and the reflection of the setting sun shimmering on the lake's surface.

She has no idea how long she had been sitting there watching the slowly setting sun touch the top of the mountain peaks, twirling her fingers between absently between the strands of long, untamed grass. She was free, finally free. She didn't have to worry about the Flecs anymore, she could live her life the way she wanted to. She could actually have a life. She could make her own choices. She could be her own person.

Suddenly, the ever changing sky felt overwhelmingly empty and expansive. Now that she was free... what was she supposed to do now?

Jesse's question had been enough to jar her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" she asked. Jesse and his brother stood next to her with the same expectant expressions on their faces.

Jesse grinned at her. "I know the view is pretty good, but you've been staring at it for like 20 minutes. We can always come back here."

"Come back?" She asked. "Where are we going?" She felt like she was missing something crucial. There were no Flecs to run from anymore, no next train car to get to. Where did she have to go?

Jesse raised an eyebrow at her. "Umm, home? I haven't even told my parents I'm back yet. I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do."

"Oh, sorry, I already told them," Nate said. "But then you disappeared again for a few hours and I'm not sure if they believed me."

"Yeah… they're never going to let me out of their sight again," Jesse said with a laugh.

Something heavy sunk into her gut. Of course Jesse had to go home. He had parents waiting for him and a life to get back to. This was the reason he wanted to leave the train. He had been trying to get home. She wanted to leave the train to earn her freedom, to get away from the Flecs, who had been trying to kill her. While Jesse had been running towards something, she had only ever been running away.

When she didn't move, Jesse took a concerned step towards where she was sitting.

"Are you okay… Lake?"

Her name from his mouth startled her back to the present. That's right, she had a name now. She was Lake.

"I'm fine," She, no, not just she,_ Lake_ said. It still felt so strange to think of herself as having a name. "You should go home and let your parents know you're okay." Lake waved away his concern away with her hand. "I'll see you soon unless your parents never let you out of the house again."

To her surprise, Jesse and Nate exchanged confused glances.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Jesse asked.

She blinked at him. "And what, meet your parents? How exactly are you going to explain me?" She used her reflective hands to gesture to herself.

"The same way I explained you to Nate. I was planning on telling my parents the truth. It might be a lot for them, but they deserve to know why I was gone for so long. Actually, having you there as proof would be better. That way they know I didn't go crazy or have the weirdest dream."

"Won't I just freak them out more?" Lake countered.

"Maybe at first, but my parents are really understanding. They're going to love you, I guarantee it. My mom is going to smother you with all her home cooking so be prepared for that," he said with a chuckle. "And we have an extra guest room you can stay in. We probably have some extra clothes too, but we will have to take you shopping soon, and, oh, I'll have to show you the best ice cream shop-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," she said frantically as she clambered to her feet. "I can't- I'm not- you can't just invite me to stay with you like that!"

Jesse frowned. "Why not?"

"Don't you want to live with us?" Nate asked.

Lake hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't want to live with Jesse, but it wasn't that simple. She couldn't just intrude on his life.

Jesse's expression fell and he seemed to take her hesitation a different way. "Sorry, I just assumed that you would..." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess I didn't think that you probably had other plans." His voice was light as he tried to disguise his disappointment. "Are you planning to go live with Tulip? That's probably home to you-"

"No!" she shouted so forcefully that the last of Jesse's words died on his lips. "I'm not going to live with Tulip. I'm not doing that again." She took a shaky breath. "She's a good friend and I owe her, but I can't be around her like that."

Jesse reached out and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "So where are you planning on living?"

She opened her mouth and then closed it. She shrugged. "I haven't really… thought that far ahead."

"So then just live with us until you figure it out!" Jesse insisted with a grin and he threw up his hands in the air for emphasis. "It'll be fun! And what else are you going to do? Live out here like a hermit in the forest?"

She smirked at him. "I would have you know that I would make an excellent hermit."

"You totally would," Jesse agreed. "But I can't let my best friend spend her first night off the train sleeping in the woods."

She was about to interrupt, but Jesse kept talking.

"At least come meet my parents so I can explain where I've been and have dinner with us," Jesse said. "My mom will insist that you spend the night, but after that you can decide what you want to do. And if you want to be a hermit and live out here, I'll help you pitch the tent."

She laughed. "Alright, fine. I don't think your parents are going to be as okay with me as you think they are, but dinner does sound good."

"Reflections can eat?" Nate asked curiously.

"Former reflection," Lake reminded him. "And yeah. The food in the Prime world is much better than the bland food we had in the mirror world."

Jesse wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her in the direction of his house. Lake had long since gotten used to Jesse's touchy-feely nature and had grown to find comfort in it. Even Lake had found herself more inclined to reach out for his soft, warm hand. She really had changed a lot since she met Jesse.

"The food on the train is nothing compared to my mom's cooking," Jesse said. "I'll have her make her famous stew for you one day."

Lake smiled. "That sounds nice." And it did. Sitting down at her friend's family's dinner table, eating homemade food, joining in on dinner conversation? This was all stuff that people did. That was normal life. Could she actually be a part of that?

As they headed towards Jesse's house, Nate asked her questions that she knew had been coming: Was she really made out of metal, did she have any reflection super powers, were all reflections real people?

Lake usually didn't like answering questions about herself and the mirror world. She barely tolerated it when Jesse would ask her. She understood that they were curious, but she didn't like reminders of her former home, and the fact that she wasn't supposed to be the Prime world.

However, Lake found that she felt less annoyed with Nate's questions than she thought she would be. Perhaps it was the fact that he was a kid, or maybe because there was something sweet about the shy, yet eager way he asked.

It wasn't long before they found themselves standing before a two story house. It was a white house with freshly cut grass and well-kept bushes and trees.

"Okay, I think I have a plan on how I'm going to explain the situation to our parents." Jesse said as he turned to face them. "I think it would be best if I go in first and explain everything to them. If they see Lake first it might be too much all at once." He looked at Nate. "Can you take her to the backyard while I talk with mom and dad? I'll come out and get you guys in fifteen minutes."

Nate nodded. "Okay."

Lake glanced at Nate and then back to the house. She felt her stomach twist uneasily. She had escaped the Flecs and the train. She had almost died multiple times that day alone. She didn't know why the thought of meeting Jesse and Nate's parents made her feel so uneasy. She had never felt nervous around people before.

Maybe it was because now that she was free of the train, things actually felt like they mattered. She couldn't just move onto the next car if she ran into something she didn't like. This was the start of her new life and if people hated her, or were too freaked out by her, she couldn't just run away anymore.

"Hey," Jesse said, causing her eyes to snap up at him. His dark eyes watched her with concern. "Don't worry, everything will be okay. And no matter what, we'll stick together."

Lake had to give him credit, Jesse was pretty good at knowing the right thing to say.

Lake scoffed and waved him off as nonchalantly as possible. "I'm not worried. Now go on, go talk to your parents. I'm sure they've been worried about you."

Jesse nodded. "Okay, see you soon."

Lake followed Nate through the wooden gate at the side of the house and into the backyard. The backyard was fairly normal, with sports balls laying in the grass, a basketball hoop hanging off the side of the house over a moderately sized patch of concrete, and a tree with a half-finished treehouse in it's branches.

Feeling like she needed to do something with her hands, and feeling awkward now that Nate had halted his questions, Lake picked up a basketball that was lying on the concrete. She gave it an experimental dribble, like she had occasionally seen Primes do. Tulip had never been big into sports, so Lake's exposures to things like basketball were limited.

"Do you like basketball?" Nate asked as he sat on one of the lawn chairs.

"I don't know," Lake said truthfully. "I've never played before."

"Oh…" Nate said. He seemed to be shy around her, especially now that Jesse wasn't around. Lake didn't blame him. Not only was Lake a strange chrome girl, but Jesse's friends hadn't always been the nicest to Nate.

Lake looked up at the basket on the side of the house and threw the ball up and towards it. The shot felt clumsy, and she didn't know quite where she should place her hands, but the ball bounced off the backboard and fell through the hoop.

"You made it!" Nate exclaimed. "Was that your first shot ever?"

"Yeah," Lake said as she grabbed the ball and lined up another shot. She grinned as the ball fell through the hoop for a second time.

"You're really good at basketball," Nate complimented after she made a few more shots.

Lake smiled at that. She was good at basketball. And she was good at something not because Tulip had known how to do it. Tulip had always been terrible at sports. No, Lake's success was all her own. She was a natural at it, and it felt right.

Lake lined up her next shot.

"Can I ask you something?" Nate asked.

Lake hummed in agreement, figuring it was another question about reflections or the mirror world.

"Are you and Jesse dating?"

The ball slipped out of her hand and went flying. It bounced off the side of the house and went rolling into the grass until it hit the wooden fence.

"Wh-what?!" Lake stuttered, whirling around to face Nate. Her face felt warm. "No! We're just really good friends! I haven't even- We aren't- no!"

Her overreaction seemed to surprise Nate at first, and then he shrugged. "Okay." He said, like he hasn't just asked her the most mortifying question possible.

Lake quickly turned to retrieve the ball, hoping Nate didn't notice how jaring that question was for her. Lake had spent every moment of her freedom running from the Flecs and just trying to survive. She had never once spared a thought towards dating or romance, or anything of the sort.

She knew a lot of Primes thought about that kind of stuff. Now that she was living in the Prime world, would she want to think about it too? That question seemed too big for her to even consider right now as she picked up the basketball. She had just picked a name for herself and discovered she was good at basketball. She was just starting to learn about who she was, she would have to save the bigger questions for later.

She went back to shooting hoops for a few minutes, and Nate didn't seem to have any more questions for her.

When the silence started to feel like it was dragging on for too long, Lake looked over at Nate.

"Do you want a turn?" she asked while holding out the basketball.

Nate shrugged. "I'm not very good at throwing the ball up that high and I can't hold a basketball too well right now." He motioned to his injured arm.

"Come on, you don't need both hands to shoot a basket," Lake encouraged. She threw the basketball up with one hand and it swished through the hoop. Lake caught the ball again on it's way back to her. "See?"

"I guess," Nate agreed as he stood up and walked over to her.

He didn't stare at her the same way he had when they first met, like she was some kind of strange anomaly that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. Lake was grateful for this, but also surprised at how quickly Nate had gotten used to her. Lake doubted all Primes would be so accepting.

"But I'm still too short," Nate said, discouraged.

"Hmm... '' Lake considered his words. He was pretty short and the basket was up pretty high in comparison. "I might have an idea."

* * *

**I hope you liked the story so far! If you did, leave a review! Also let me know if you have any suggestions of what should happen in the story. If you're interested in following my writing and getting updates you can follow my tumblr: maydaygirl-save-our-ships**


	2. Meet the Parents

**Chapter 2: Meet the Parents**

* * *

"So…" his father said slowly. "You're telling us the reflection girl is real, and she's… here?"

Jesse sighed. He could tell his parents thought he had lost his mind. They had humored him and allowed him to tell the story of the train and meeting Lake, but he could tell from the glances his mother and father sent each other that they thought he was either crazy, lying, or had a very strange, very vivid dream.

Jesse suspected this might happen, which is why he was grateful that he had Lake as proof. No one could deny a living, talking, metal girl.

"Yeah, she's in the backyard right now. I wanted to explain the story first without overwhelming you guys, but now I want you to meet her."

"Jesse, you've been gone for weeks," His mother said with tears still in her eyes. She had calmed down significantly since she first learned he was back, but she was still visibly upset. "If we go back there and see that you have made some stupid prank-"

"It's not a prank, mom. She's real, I promise," Jesse insisted. "Now, will you come to the backyard and meet her? And please don't freak out. She won't admit it, but I think she's worried about making a good impression."

His mother sent a worried glance to her husband, but then nodded. "Okay, we'll meet your friend, sweetie."

"Hold on, where's your brother?" his dad asked. "After he saw you a few hours ago, he's been hanging around the neighborhood hoping you will come back. I want to make sure he's back home."

"Don't worry, I already introduced him to Lake. He's in the backyard right now keeping her company."

His father frowned. "You left your brother with a stranger?"

As if on cue, a shout sounded from the backyard that had unmistakably come from Nate.

Jesse's parents eyes widened as they rushed to the backyard, Jesse close behind them.

When they opened the backdoor and stepped outside, his parents froze. Jesse barely managed to stop in time to avoid running into them.

The three of them stared at the sight before them.

Lake was standing underneath the basketball hoop with a surprised expression on her face. The last of the light from the setting sun reflected orange and yellow colors off her shiny skin. On top of Lake's shoulders sat Nate, a wide grin on his face. His hands were settled on Lake's head for balance.

"Jesse! Lake helped me make a basket, just like you do!"

Jesse smiled at the sight. He had known the two of them would get along.

"Good job, buddy," Jesse said, and sent Lake what he hopped was a reassuring smile.

Lake looked like a deer caught in headlights as his parents stared at her. Slowly, she reached up and plucked Nate off her shoulders and set him on the ground before her.

"Umm, hi Mr. and Mrs. Cosay. I'm… Lake."

* * *

Nobody moved. Lake shifted awkwardly as Jesse's parents continued to stare.

Finally, Jesse's mother spoke in a low voice. "Nathan, come over here, sweetie," the woman called, gesturing for Nate to come and join her.

Nate looked confused as he glanced at Lake before walking over towards his mother. Jesse's mother wrapped her arms around Nate, holding him to her side, still unable to take her eyes off of Lake.

Lake was grateful when Jesse stepped around his parents and stood beside her. He enthusiastically threw an arm around her tense metal shoulders. His warm, squishy, hold comforted her, and Lake noted the look of surprise flash across his parent's faces.

"Mom, Dad, this is my best friend I told you about. I would have never been able to get off the train without her."

Lake looked at him in surprise. "You're the one that came back for me. I would have never been able to escape without you."

He smiled down at her. "We saved each other then."

"This..." Jesse's father began, but then stopped. "This can't be real. This is a joke."

Lake grimaced. "Everything Jesse told you is true," Lake said. "The Train, the super powered deer, me. I really am a reflection… well, a former reflection."

Jesse's dad scowled. "You two really went all out for this prank didn't you? Did one of your football friends put you up to it? And you, young lady, spray paint is not good for your skin. Do your parents know what you've been up to?"

"Dad-" Jesse began, but Lake held up her hand, silencing him.

She stepped forward, slipping away from the comfort of Jesse's arm around her. "Mr. Cosay, Jesse may make jokes sometimes, but even he would never go this far. Not after he made you all worry for so long." Slowly she extended her arm. An invitation. "If you need proof, check it out for yourself. I really am made out of metal."

His dad hesitated for a moment, but then stepped forward.

Lake schooled her features, and tried to force her nervous feelings down. Jesse's father was tall, but not in an intimidating way. He had dark hair and soft, kind eyes, like Jesse. It was impossible to be afraid of someone who looked so much like her best friend.

His father reached out his hand and decisively gripped her metal one. She watched his mouth fall open as he turned her hand over, examining her skin in the dying, orange light. He gave her hand a small squeeze, testing out the hardness of her skin, but her metal skin held firm. There was no way she could be mistaken for a human.

"You…" His father trailed off. "You really are made of metal." His father dropped her arm and took a step back in stunned surprise. "Whittney, he wasn't joking, it really is like a reflection... It really is made out of metal."

Lake winced at being called an 'it'. She tried not to feel too annoyed at the man, mostly because he looked like he was having an existential crisis and didn't have a lot of control about what was coming out of his mouth, but it still hurt.

"It must just be a prosthetic or… or something…" Jesse's mother tried to reason.

"Nope," Jesse said, moving to stand beside Lake again. "_She's_ all metal," he said, stressing the pronoun, and then he took his knuckles and knocked on her head a few times for effect. The sound that resulted was a deep, solid knocking sound with a metallic ring bouncing off the air. "See? She's got a hard head. Literally and figuratively."

Lake pushed his hands away, sending him an annoyed glare. He just grinned at her in response.

"I know the train seems far-fetched, but there's no way that I can fake a metal friend," Jesse said.

"I believe them," Nate said. "And Lake's nice. I don't think she would lie."

Lake smiled at the vote of confidence.

"So you're saying, everything you told us… it's real?" his mother asked, her face suddenly pale.

"Yeah, but don't worry, mom. Everything's fine now. I'm home," Jesse assured her.

Lake could see Jesse in his mother as well. Even though her hair wasn't as dark as Jesse's, there was something about her nose and her soft features that reminded her of Jesse.

His mother approached Lake until she was standing next to her husband. She seemed to be looking her over, taking in her reflective skin for herself.

Lake felt herself tense at the evaluation.

"You…" she said quietly. "You helped get my baby home. You saved him from the train and brought him home."

Lake stared at the older woman, who suddenly had tears shining in her eyes.

"I…" Lake was lost for words at first. "He helped me too," she insisted quietly.

Mrs. Cosay shook her head, her tears fell from her eyes onto her cheeks. "Jesse told us. You had your own problems, but you still stopped to help him. You got that number thing to zero and brought him home."

Lake nearly jumped out of her metal skin when Mrs. Cosey threw her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. She froze, unmoving like a statue in Mrs. Cosay's arms. She didn't know what to do, or say. She could barely process what was happening. All that she could register was she was being hugged by Jesse's mom, and it felt surprisingly nice.

Jesse's mother slowly pulled away, but allowed her hands to remain on Lake's shoulders.

Lake couldn't understand. Why was Jesse's mother so familiar with her? Wasn't she weirded out by the fact that she wasn't human?

"Thank you," Jesse's mother said finally. "Thank you for helping him."

"Don't… don't worry about it," Lake managed to say. "It's what friends do, right?"

She looked at Jesse who nodded. He was practically beaming at her.

Jesse's attention turned back to his mother. "Mom, please don't cry. Everything is fine now, okay?"

His mother nodded and let go of Lake's shoulders so that she could hug Jesse.

"I can't believe all of this is real," Jesse's father said and he ran a hand through his hair. "You're a reflection, you're not even supposed to be here."

Lake clenched her jaw in anticipation of what he was going to say next.

"But you are here… in our world." Mr. Cosay shook his head in disbelief. He looked at Lake, a serious expression crossed his face. "Jesse said you broke the rules of your world and your police force were after you. Are… are you safe here? Are they going to come here?"

Lake opened her mouth to assure him that everything was fine. She wanted to assure him that the Flecs weren't going to come after her or be able to hurt his family. She wanted him to know that being around her wasn't dangerous, but then Mr. Cosay asked another question.

"Do you need us to hide you? Will you be safe at our house? You helped Jesse, we can return the favor the best that we can."

Lake didn't expect the way her vision blurred. They were offering to hide her? But they didn't even know her.

"No," Lake said as she shook her head. "I'm off the train so the Flecs… The people I was running from… they can't get to me anymore." Her voice choked up slightly and she hoped no one else noticed. "I'm free."

Jesse's dad seemed to relax. "That's good…" he looked at Jesse. "How about you son? You just escaped that train. Are you doing okay?"

Jesse tapped his fingers on his chin in contemplation. "I'm not bad. A little hungry, but for escaping a life-changing supernatural train, I'm doing pretty good."

Jesse's dad chuckled. "Well let's get you guys inside and get some dinner. I'm going to need time to process this... A lot of time. And I can't do that on an empty stomach." He hesitated and looked over at Lake. "Lake… do you… eat?"

Lake chuckled. "All the time."

"She has a bigger appetite than me," Jesse said.

"I find that hard to believe," his mother countered as she ushered them inside the house. "It's like your stomach is bottomless." She glanced at the clock and bit her lip. "It's a little late for me to make dinner by now. Maybe we should order take-out."

"You know what that means?" Jesse asked, turning to Nate.

"Thai Love You!" Nate shouted happily.

"Aw, Thai Love You too, Nate," Jesse said with a grin.

Nate rolled his eyes and turned to his mother. "Mom, Thai Love You!"

"Thai Love You, because you love us!" Jesse chimed after his brother.

Mrs. Cosay chuckled. "That sounds like a good idea."

"I'm sorry, what is happening here?" Lake asked, looking between the brothers in confusion.

"Whenever mom gets too tied to cook we get take out from our favorite Thai restaurant, Thai Love You. It's the best!" Jesse's grin faded. "Umm, that is, if you like Thai food. Do you like Thai food?"

Lake shrugged. "I don't know. I don't remember Tulip being a fan and her family never ordered it. Even if I did have it in the mirror world, it wouldn't be the same."

"Tulip is the person you used to… be a reflection of, right?" Jesse's dad asked.

"Yeah, she was my Prime before she helped me escape the mirror world."

"If Tulip doesn't like thai food, and you're her reflection, then does that mean you don't like thai food either?" Nate asked

"I'm not her reflection anymore," Lake snapped. "We don't have the same taste buds, we're not the same person."

Nate glanced at Jesse, taken aback.

Lake instantly regretted reacting so harshly. Nate was just trying to ask a question, there was no way he could have known how much she despised being compared to Tulip.

Lake sighed. "I honestly don't know what I like," she admitted. "I haven't tried many things."

"That's no problem," Jesse said with his smile that always seemed to set her at ease. "We always order a bunch of different food. You can try everything and see what kind of things you like. It'll be fun!"

Lake smiled. "That sounds like a good plan."

"But just so you know, if you don't like the pad thai we can no longer be friends," Jesse said with one of the most serious expressions she had seen from him.

Which of course, cause Lake to start laughing. "Wow, what happened to Mr. Not-Everyone-Likes-Cake, otherwise known as I'm-Afraid-Of-Confrontation-Jesse?" Lake asked with a grin. "You're about to fight me over a food dish. I think I like this new side to you."

Jesse's cheeks reddened as he smiled sheepishly. "What can I say, I guess the train was good for me."

* * *

**Thank you all so much for all your support! I really appreciate it! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter by leaving a comment!**

**I was really excited to write about Lake meeting Jesse's parents so I hope you all liked it! What did you think of the parents so far? Don't worry, this is just the introduction to the parents, there is a lot more to come. There will be more about what his parents think of her and how they are going to deal with their new metal house guest.**

**My tumblr is maydaygirl-save-our-ships if you want more updates on this story.**


	3. Dinner with the Cosays

**Chapter 3****:**** Dinner with the Cosays**

* * *

Family dinner was a foreign experience for Lake.

Once the food was delivered, the Cosay family gathered around the kitchen table. The food was passed around and everyone put a little of each dish on their plate.

When Lake has been attached to Tulip, she had experienced pieces of these family meals while reflected in a fork or a spoon. She remembered hearing a lot of arguing from Tulip's parents when she was younger, and after the separation, dinner had gotten a lot quieter in Tulip's household.

This family dinner was very different.

The Cosay family chatted happily together. Mr. and Mrs. Cosay asked Jesse more questions about the train and Jesse excitedly told them about his and Lake's adventures together. Lake interjected with her own details as Jesse narrated the story. His parents seemed horrified by the more dangerous aspects of the train, but his younger brother was fascinated. She and Jesse both talked affectionately about their friend, Alan Dracula.

"So, how did you get into our world, Lake?" Jesse's father asked after Jesse had just finished telling a story of how they were able to evade the Flecs. "Jesse just told us that Tulip was a passenger on the train."

Jesse looked over at her curiously, and Lake realized that she had never actually told him how she got free.

"Yeah," she said. "On the train, Tulip ran into the Chrome Car, which is sort of like a gateway to the mirror world. To get through the car, you and your reflection have to cross the barrier into each other's words, with Tulip in the mirror world and me in the prime world. Then I had to open the door in the prime world with Tulip doing the same as my reflection." Lake noticed Jesse's parents staring at her in confusion. "Yeah, some of the train cars had weird rules. I told Tulip that I wanted to be free and I was sick of living in the mirror world. She's smart, and she was able to figure out a way that we could both escape. However, once I tried to escape the Flecs came after me." Lake shrugged. "And they've chased me ever since."

Mr. Cosay frowned. "That was nice of her to help you like that," he said, but his tone was dubious, like he didn't quite believe her. "It couldn't have been easy to escape the car, or I'm sure more reflections would have been able to do the same thing."

Lake shrugged again and looked down to avoid his scrutinizing gaze. "Yeah, it wasn't easy," she said softly. She had left out the part about trying to trick Tulip into taking her place in the mirror world. Could Jesse's dad tell she was lying? It wasn't lying exactly, she was just leaving out an important detail, but she felt guilty about it all the same. It's not like she could tell them the full truth. What would they think of her if they knew she tried to trick Tulip into being trapped in the mirror world forever? What would Jesse think?

Jesse's parents eventually moved on to asking her questions about the mirror world and Lake patiently answered them to the best of her ability. Thankfully, Jesse quickly seemed to catch on that she was feeling uncomfortable and changed the subject for her.

Near the end of dinner, Jesse asked her what happened after he left the train. She talked about her daring escape with Alan Dracula, what the wasteland was like, and how the passengers were processed.

She left out her fight with Mace and how she had to kill him to survive. She was already trying her best to block that part out, and Jesse was such a sweet, goodhearted person, she was afraid of what he would think of her if he found out what she had done. Sieve had mentioned that she killed Mace in front of Jesse, but Jesse never confronted her about it. Lake figured Jesse either hadn't heard him, assumed it was an accident or assumed Sieve was lying. If Jesse knew the truth, how she had killed him on purpose (even though it was in self-defense) there was no way he would still want her around, let alone invite her to stay at his house.

"So, what did you think of the Thai food?" Jesse asked as the meal ended. "What did you like and what didn't you like? Be honest, we have to figure out your tastes."

Lake was feeling more comfortable at this point as she looked over the cartons of mostly eaten food dishes the family had picked apart. Jesse's family curiously awaited her answer, but she didn't feel put on the spot. The family had a sweet, wholesome vibe to it, with the occasional teasing between family members. She felt surprisingly comfortable in the homey atmosphere.

"I think I liked everything," Lake said honestly. "Except for one thing." Lake used her fork to pick up a long, slightly translucent piece of food still left on her plate. "Whatever this is, I didn't like it."

Jesse squinted at it. "I think that's an onion," he said. "I guess you don't like onions?"

Lake's eyes widened. She must have not recognized it when paired with all the other foreign Tai foods. "Oh, that makes sense," she said mostly to herself.

Jesse cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Lake shook her head. "It's not important." And it wasn't. Whatever Tulip liked or didn't like wasn't important anymore. This was about what she liked.

"Okay kids," Jesse's mom said, standing up. "It's been a long day for all of us, and I think it's time for us to get ready for an early bedtime. Lake, I'm going to make up the guest room for you."

Lake opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off.

"No, no excuses, young lady," Jesse's mother said firmly. "You are staying here with us until further notice and that's final. We will just have to get you some pajamas to wear… I don't think you'll fit into anything of mine."

"I have some sweats she can wear," Jesse volunteered. He turned to Lake with a smile. "I have plenty of extra clothes you can have."

Jesse's mother nodded. "I guess that will do for now until we can buy you your own wardrobe."

"You don't have to do that, Mrs. Cosay," Lake said.

"Dear, please call me Whittney, and yes I do. You can't just use Jesse's old clothes. You need your own."

Lake decided it wasn't worth arguing with her. Jesse's mother was nice, but once she made up her mind, Lake had a feeling she was very stubborn

"Have you contacted your friends yet, son?" Jesse's father asked. "They've been really worried about you since you disappeared, especially your friend Troy. I'm sure they'll be excited to hear that you're back."

"Oh yeah, I should-'' Jesse reached into his pocket and then stopped suddenly. "Shoot, right." He sheepishly looked up at his parents. "I don't exactly have my phone anymore."

Lake's stomach lurched. "Sorry, that's my fault," she admitted. "I sort of destroyed and spray painted Jesse's phone. I was paranoid of the Flecs coming after me through the phone's reflection and I didn't trust him back then… sorry."

Jesse's parents exchanged looks, but then his dad shook his head and started chuckling. "Honestly, after everything Jesse told us about the train, I would have been surprised if his phone made it through that unscathed. It's okay, both you and Jesse made it out safe and that's what matters. Besides, he was due for a new phone anyway."

"Really?" Jesse asked. "Can I get the new one that just came out?"

"We'll talk about it later," Jesse's father said diplomatically.

"Right, Jesse, why don't you get Lake a change of clothes so you can all get ready for bed," his mother suggested.

Jesse grabbed her hand and led her to his room.

Overall, his room was pretty normal. He had a bed with a blue comforter, a laptop sitting on the foot of his bed, and a messy desk piled with textbooks and loose pieces of paper. He also had a bookshelf that was full of more comics than books, and a shelf above his bed with trophies and swimming metals from local competitions. On his wall hung a sappy motivational poster and another poster from a band Lake didn't recognize.

"Here we are!" Jesse said. "What do you think?"

"It's not about being the best, it's about being better than you were yesterday," Lake read off the poster. The picture that accompanied the words were of swimmers in the middle of a race. Lake raised an eyebrow at him.

Jesse shrugged. "Well it's true," he said. "I like inspiring posters. Most people think they're lame, but I like having them."

Lake rolled her eyes teasingly. "You would."

Despite her teasing, she liked his room. She liked how it was uncompromisingly Jesse.

"Okay, let me find some clothes for you." Jesse walked over to his dresser and began rummaging through the bottom drawer. Lake leaned against the edge of his bed and waited.

After a few seconds, Jesse turned around and handed her a pile of clothes that included grey sweats and a slightly over-sized black t-shirt.

"Here you go! Tomorrow we can go through my closet and you can pick out clothes that you want. I have a lot of clothes that I don't wear, so I don't mind sharing."

"Thanks," Lake said as she accepted the clothes. She felt sort of bad about using Jesse's clothes, but Lake knew him well enough by now to know that he really didn't mind. Suddenly, a thought came to her head. "Could I borrow a pair of socks too?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Jesse said as he pulled out a pair of white socks for her. "The bathroom is down the hall if you want to take a shower. There are towels in the cabinet and you can use the soap in the shower."

Lake nodded. Taking a shower was a good idea. Although she didn't sweat like humans did, after spending months going from train car to train car her skin was getting dingy and there were a few dark smudges on her legs.

She found the towels easily and turned on the shower. As a reflection, she had been reflected many times in bath water, but never in a shower. She wasn't sure what temperature to turn the water to. She could feel temperature; she knew the difference between hot and cold, but things never felt too hot or too cold. Humans felt pain when their skin was burned or shivered in the cold, but she didn't.

She decided to turn the temperature to cold and stepped into the shower. The water felt refreshing on her skin, and Lake realized that this was the first time she was actually able to relax in water and not have to worry about the Flecs jumping out after her.

Lake scrubbed the grime off of her skin with the help of the body soap in the shower. She probably took longer than she needed to, but it was nice to relax by herself for a few minutes. Being around Jesse's family was a little overwhelming, even though they were a lot more accepting than she expected.

Finally, Lake exited the shower and dried herself off with the towel. She put on the sweats Jesse gave her. They were a little a little long on her, but comfy. The black shirt was a band shirt but she didn't recognize the name. The last thing she did was pull on the socks. She made sure the mirror that she was reflecting out of, the mirror from Tulip's multi-tool, was tucked safely against her ankle and under the sock.

Jesse's sweats covered her ankles, so she wasn't sure why she had wanted the socks, but it just made her feel better knowing that the mirror from the multi-tool was tucked away.

She grabbed her old clothes and headed back to Jesse's room. His door was open and he was lying on his bed looking at his computer screen.

"Dumpty Humpty?" Lake asked him, motioning to the shirt he had given her.

He looked up, and once he saw her, he grinned. "Yeah! They're a really cool band! Have you heard of them?"

Lake shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Oh man, you have to listen to them! I bet you would like them."

Jesse typed a few words on his computer and the room filled with the sound of an alternate rock band.

Lake had to admit, they sounded pretty good. Lake carefully sat on Jesse's bed (it protested her weight, but seemed to hold) as he played song after song for her.

They had moved on from alternative rock to older rock songs. Lake was very fond of Bon Jovi's 'It's My Life'.

"I can't believe you haven't heard these songs before," Jesse said. "They're classics."

"It's not that I've never listened to music," Lake defended. "But when you don't get to control when or what you listen to, it makes it hard to pay much attention. And I guess Tulip's music tastes are really different from mine."

Lake frowned. She was starting to get annoyed at how often she brought up Tulip in conversation. It made sense why, since Tulip was her only experience with the Prime world, but it was still annoying how hard it was to leave Tulip's life behind even now that she was trying to live her own.

"Hey, it's okay," Jesse said, obviously noticing her shift in mood. "Now you have all the time in the world to build up your music library with all the stuff you like. See? I already started making a playlist of everything you liked so far." He turned his computer around to show her.

"Thanks Jesse. Have I told you that you're the best?"

"Not once," he said with a grin. "So I think you better start."

Lake laughed. "Well, you're the best."

"Alright kids," Mrs. Cosay said as she appeared in the doorway. "Nate's already asleep so I think it's best we all get some rest. Jesse, don't keep Lake up, I'm sure she's exhausted."

"I won't, mom," Jesse promised.

His mom entered the room and pulled Jesse into a hug. He leaned over from his position on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back tightly.

"I'm so glad you're back home, Jesse," she said. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, mom," Jesse said, but his voice was muffled into her nightgown. Mrs. Cosay kissed the top of his head.

Lake looked down at her hands awkwardly, feeling like she was an intruder in this private moment.

"Lake, sweetie," Mrs. Cosay said, causing Lake to look up at her. She was standing in front of her with a warm smile on her face. "Earlier I hugged you and I didn't ask if that was okay. Is it okay if I give you a hug now?"

Lake felt herself blush as she scratched the side of her head. "S-sure, if you want to. I don't mind, but I'm not the most comfortable person to hug..."

Mrs. Cosay tisked and pulled her into another soft hug. "Nonsense, you're perfectly fine to hug."

This time, because she was expecting it, Lake was able to relax into the hug. She even put her arm around Mrs. Cosay and gave her a small, timid hug back.

"I'm glad you're here, Lake," Mrs. Cosay said softly, and those few, simple words caused Lake's eyes to prick with moisture. Besides Jesse and Alan Dracula, no one had ever wanted her around before. "Now, try and get a good night's rest."

Mrs. Cosay wished them a final goodnight and headed to her room. Jesse showed her to her own temporary bedroom. It had a queen sized bed, a set of drawers, a night stand, white curtains, and tan walls that were mostly empty aside for a landscape painting of a forest hanging above the bed. Compared to the rest of the house, which was clean but full of personality, this room was fairly boring.

"Don't worry, you can change the room however you want. We can get you some decorations to make it look less like a hotel room and more like your own bedroom."

Lake turned around to face Jesse. "You make it sound like I've decided to stay here," she challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jesse shrugged. "You want to be the one to tell my mom you're going to live in the woods instead? Even though you're not her kid, she'll probably attempt to ground you just to get you to stay."

Lake rolled her eyes. "I'll stay for a while," Lake reasoned. "Until I get my bearings and figure out what I'm going to do next."

"Okay," Jesse said. "But that doesn't mean you still can't decorate your room in the meantime, right? I mean, whether you stay for a few days or a few months, that doesn't mean you can't be comfortable."

"I guess," Lake relented. "But nothing too big! I don't want to inconvenience your parents too much. They've already been really nice."

"Sure, sure, just a poster or something. Maybe you'll find a poster from a band or a movie that you like. I also think I have a few more motivational posters in my closet- ow!" He rubbed his forehead where Lake had flicked him.

"No sappy motivational posters. I'm not a third grade elementary school teacher."

Jesse laughed. "Fine, fine, no awesome motivational posters. We'll find something else later, but for now we should probably go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Me too," Lake admitted.

"Well then, I guess I'll see you in the morning." Jesse took a step back toward the door, but then hesitated. Lake understood the feeling. They had slept in the same train car watching each other's backs for weeks. It felt strange to now go and sleep in separate rooms.

However, they didn't have much of a choice. Jesse's parents may have been more understanding than Lake ever hoped, but they would definitely jump to conclusions if she and Jesse slept in the same room together.

"Lake," Jesse said at last. "I don't think I said it, but I'm really glad you're staying with us, even if you only decide to stay for a little while. And I'm really, really glad you're off the train."

Lake smiled. "Me too. This all sort of feels like a dream... I can hardly believe it."

"Don't worry, it's real," Jesse assured her. "I'll see you in the morning, okay? And we can start your first real day off the train."

Lake grinned. "That sounds really good. Goodnight, Jesse."

"Goodnight, Lake."

Lake closed her bedroom door and jumped. She took a step backwards, sudden panic gripping her heart, as saw herself staring back. A large mirror hung on the back of the door, like a big, gaping hole.

_ It's okay... it's okay… _ She told herself over and over again. She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. _ It's just a mirror, the Flecs can't come out of it anymore, you're safe. _

But she didn't feel safe. The mirror hung ominously on the door and her mind was screaming at her, telling her that this was a portal back into her old life, and any second the Flecs would reach out of it and pull her in. But that was impossible. The only time the Flecs could get out of the mirror world was on the train, and she was no longer on the train.

Lake forced herself to turn away from the mirror (leaving her back exposed to the mirror was almost physically impossible, but she managed it) and climbed onto the soft queen sized bed. The bed frame was made out of metal so it creaked less under her weight than Jesse's bed did.

Lake didn't realize how tired she was until she pulled the covers around her. She barely remembered turning off the light before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

**You get 10 cool points if you know where the band Dumpty Humpty comes from.**

**Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!**

**For more about this fic follow my tumblr ****maydaygirl-save-our-ships**


	4. Nightmares

**Chapter 4: Nightmares**

* * *

Lake found herself standing in a familiar hallway. To her left was a family photo hanging on the wall. In the picture, Jesse and Nate were standing in front of their parents. Mr. Cosay's arm was around his wife's shoulders, his other hand resting on Jesse's shoulder as they posed in front of the Disneyland sign.

Lake wondered what she was doing out here in the hallway. She remembered going to sleep in the guest room last night, and now she was standing in the hallway as morning light seeped in through the window. Had she sleep walked out of her room?

The air around Lake felt unusually cold compared to the temperature in the Cosay's house last night. Perhaps someone left a window open? Lake didn't mind the cold, but it was uncomfortably familiar, even though she couldn't quite place why.

Movement caught Lake's attention as Jesse's bedroom door opened and he stumbled sleepily out of his room. He didn't seem to notice her as he turned down the hallway, away from her.

Lake moved to follow him. She had only taken a few steps before her face smacked hard into an invisible force.

She stumbled backwards in confusion. Slowly, she reached out a hand, her palm resting on an invisible wall.

_No… _She shook her head. _No… this can't be happening! _

She pressed harder against the wall, pushing against it with all of her weight, but it didn't move.

_No, I can't be here! I escaped! _

"Jesse!" she shouted as loud as she could. She pounded her fists against the translucent barrier, which she suddenly recognized as the mirror in Jesse's hallway. Jesse didn't make any indication that he had heard her. She watched as Nate came up the stairs and Jesse stopped to talk with him.

"Did you miss me, Sliver?"

_No…_

Lake turned as fast as she could, but she was too late. Sieve launched himself at her, his hand gripping firmly around her neck, pressing her backwards against the mirror. He glowered down at her, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

"H-How..." Lake barely managed as he struggled desperately against his grip, using all of her strength to try and pull his hand away. "How are you alive? You were-"

"Killed?" Sieve finished for her. "By you?"

"No, I didn't-"

He pressed her harder against the mirror. Had she been human, her neck would have snapped.

"Don't pretend like you didn't know what would've happened," he snarled. "You knew exactly what that deer would do. You killed me, just like you killed Mace."

"I-I had no choice!" She clawed against his hand, trying to pull each individual finger off her neck, but he was as solid as stone.

"Didn't have a choice? You could have continued to be a reflection. You could've accepted what you are. Instead, you killed Mace. You killed my partner!"

"Please, let me go!" She kicked his legs, but not even her strongest kicks seemed to phase him.

He sneered down at her. "Why? So you can live in the prime world? Do you really think you deserve to be there? You? You're not even a person, and even if you were… even if you were more than just a worthless Sliver, you wouldn't be a good person. You're selfish, cowardly and a murderer." Sieve looked over her shoulder at Jesse. "You don't deserve that Prime's affection." He looked back down at her, his eye's narrowing. "You don't deserve to live."

The sound of his sander reached her ears and Lake let out a sob. She couldn't do anything. She could barely move, she couldn't fight.

"You're done running, Sliver. You're done pretending to be something you're not. You're done existing." He lifted the sander above her head.

"No!" She screamed, struggled frantically. "Jesse!"

He plunged the sander towards her face and she closed her eyes-

Lake bolted upright and gasped for air.

She scanned the darkened room for any sign of the Flecs. The light from the window illuminated the mirror on the back of the door, reflecting her terrified face. Fear gripped her chest as Lake dove for cover.

She landed with a loud thump on the floor next to her bed. The blankets, which had tangled themselves around her limbs, fell along with her into a heap on the floor.

Breathing raggedly, Lake buried her face in the carpet, trying to gain her bearings. Sieve's words echoed in her mind, and she tried to push them out with her own mantra.

_I'm safe, I'm safe, I'm out, I'm a person… I'm a person… _

But she didn't feel safe, curled up on the floor all alone. She felt incomplete, broken, like a cracked reflection unable to represent the full picture. She didn't feel like a person.

And for a moment, as she sat sobbing alone in a strange room, she worried that maybe Sieve had been right.

* * *

Jesse was startled awake by the sound of a heavy thump. His first thought had been of Lake. The noise had come from the room next to him, which was Lake's room, and there were only a few objects heavy enough in his house to make a noise like that.

Instantly awake, Jesse threw off his covers, dashed to her room, and twisted open the door handle.

Fear constricted Jesse's chest when he saw Lake's bed was empty. He waited a moment, his own heart beating loudly in his ears, and then he heard a soft noise coming from the floor next to the far window.

"Lake?" He rounded the bed to see Lake on the ground curled up in a small ball with blankets tangled all around her. Her body shook with broken sobs. "Lake!"

He fell on his knees beside her, barely able to think straight. Was she hurt? Was she okay?

"Lake, it's me," he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder cold. "What happened? Are you okay?"

When Jesse's hand timidly touched her shoulder, Lake froze, her muffled sobs subsiding.

"Jesse?" Lake asked in the smallest voice he had ever heard from her.

"Yes, it's me. It's okay, I got you."

Lake struggled with her blankets, which were tightly wrapped around her arms and legs. Jesse helped her get her arms free, and when she turned to face him, she lunged towards him, wrapping her arms around his middle in a tight hug. Her weight knocked him backwards and he barely managed to stay sitting upright.

"Whoa, Lake!" Her hug was almost crushing his ribs, and Jesse only now realized how much she normally held back when she hugged him.

Jesse wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face into his chest. He could feel her shaking in his arms as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

He had seen her face down the Flecs and terrifying creatures from the train, but he had never seen her like this. It scared him.

Jesse helplessly began rubbing circled on her back, unsure of how else to comfort her.

How could he even begin to comfort the strongest, most fearless girl he knew?

"It's okay," he promised her in a low voice. "It's okay, you're here. You're safe. You're off the train, you're safe." The words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could think about them. But somehow, he knew they were the right thing to say.

After a few minutes of holding her and rubbing her back, Lake's crying began to subsided. Her body still shook in his arms, which worried him, but her breathing was starting to return to normal.

Lake leaned away from him and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"S-sorry" Lake apologized, her voice horse, and her eyes downcast. "That was so stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," Jesse denied. "Are you okay?"

Lake shook her head, still refusing to look at him. "It was just a dream. I should have realized, but it was so realistic... Then I woke up and saw myself in the mirror and I..."

Lake trailed off as she glanced over to look at the large mirror hanging on the door.

"This is so dumb," she said with a scowl. "I'm off the train, I shouldn't be afraid of reflective surfaces anymore. What's wrong with me?"

"Hey." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You spent months avoiding reflective surfaces, and this is your first night off the train. Give yourself a break. You can't expect to adjust to it all at once."

Lake sighed. "I know, I know, you're right." She leaned into him slightly and Jesse quickly picked up on the non-verbal cue that she wanted another hug. He wrapped his arms around her once again and rested his head on top of hers.

"I'm sorry I broke down like that," Lake's apology was muffled into his shirt. "I probably freaked you out. I have no idea what happened. I've had bad dreams before, but I've never reacted like that."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay now."

And she did seem okay. At the very least, her shaking seemed to have finally stopped.

After a long moment of sitting in silence together, Lake pulled herself out of his arms, looking exhausted and more than a little embarrassed. When Jesse first met her, Lake wasn't a physically affectionate person, and it had taken a while for her to become comfortable taking his hand and accepting his hugs. However, despite how close they had become, Jesse had never seen her cling to him like that. It worried him, almost as much as it seemed to have embarrassed her.

"Sorry I woke you up," she muttered as she slowly got to her feet. She sat on the edge of her bed, still not looking him in the eyes.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay." Jesse got to his feet as well, but sensed that she needed her space, so he walked towards the mirror hanging on the door. "Maybe we can do something about that mirror." Jesse opened the bedroom door and walked into the hallway.

"You don't have to," he heard Lake protest behind him. "Really, it's fine. It just surprised me."

Jesse found what he was looking for in the hallway closet and brought it back into Lake's room. He unfolded the dark blue blanket. It was a sheet for another bed set that they weren't currently using. He tucked the top of the blanket over the mirror and let it hang over the rest, completely covering it.

"There," he said. "Now the mirror won't surprise you if you happen to have another nightmare."

"Thanks…" Lake said in an unusually small voice. "That actually helps."

Jesse smiled, but he had no idea what he should do next. He wanted to stay up all night with her, making sure she was okay, and be there to wake her up if she had any more nightmares. However, from the way she was blushing, he could tell that if he suggested that, he would only embarrass her more.

"I think I'll be okay now," Lake said. "I'll try and get some rest with whatever dignity I have left."

"If it makes you feel better, when I first got on the train I had really bad nightmares," Jesse said. "I had these dreams that I would keep getting lost and would never get back home."

"Really?" Lake asked, finally looking him in the eyes again. "I don't remember you having any nightmares."

Jesse chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's because as soon as I started traveling with you... I don't know… I guess I just started to feel better, and the nightmares stopped. Even though you weren't my friend in the beginning, just having you with me really helped."

"It does make me feel better that I'm not the only one," Lake admitted. "Thanks, Jesse."

Jesse smiled and placed a hand on the door handle. "No problem. If you need me or have any more nightmares, I'm right next door, okay?"

"Hopefully this is the end of both our nightmares," Lake said. "I'm ready to leave the train behind us once and for all."

Jesse agreed, but when he closed Lake's bedroom door, he couldn't ignore the heavy pit settling in his stomach. Lake wanted to forget everything and make a new path as quickly as possible, but Jesse had the impression that it wouldn't be so easy to leave the past behind.

* * *

**I hope you guys like this chapter. I had a difficult time with writing this one and getting the nightmare the way I wanted it, but I felt like it was really important to explore Lake's nightmare and the fears she is struggling with. I feel like it's well-established fanon that Lake had nightmares, so I feel like I would have been missing something vital if I didn't include it in this fic (and it also fits in with the rest of the narrative I'm creating for her). I hope you all like it even though it was difficult for me to write. Let me know what you think of this chapter!**


	5. Breakfast Interrogation

**Chapter 5: Breakfast Interrogation**

* * *

The sunlight streaming through his blinds was the first thing Jesse saw in the morning, and for a moment, he wasn't sure where he was. Waking up in his bedroom under his covers was almost too normal. After weeks of waking up in different cars, it was strange to wake up and be home.

Jesse sluggishly headed downstairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, he saw his mother flipping pancakes, his father reading the newspaper, and his brother happily eating a stack of pancakes. The sight was so familiar it made his heart ache. He hadn't realized how much he missed them until this moment.

"Jesse!" his mother said with a wide smile when she noticed him in the doorway. She rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. "Oh, I missed seeing you in the morning. Come and have some breakfast."

"I will, but you have to let go of me first, mom," Jesse said with a grin as his mother continued to hug him.

"No way, I'm never letting go of you again," she countered.

Jesse laughed. "That's going to make eating pancakes really hard."

His mother gave him one more squeeze before sighing and letting him go. "Okay fine, go sit at the table. I almost have this last batch cooked up."

His mother put a stack of pancakes in front of him and Jesse's mouth immediately started to water.

"Thanks mom, these look great!" As he started to pour syrup on his pancakes, he glanced towards the stairs. "Did Lake wake up yet?"

His mom shook her head. "No, we haven't seen her yet."

"Do you think I should wake her up?" Jesse asked. "I don't want her to miss breakfast."

His mom put a hand on his shoulder. "Let her sleep. When was the last time you think she got a good night's rest?"

"Well, after she left the mirror world she probably always had the Flecs chasing her so… probably not for a long time."

"Then let her sleep," his mom said. "I can always make more pancakes when she wakes up."

"Did anyone hear a loud bang last night?" Nate asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. "I wasn't sure if I dreamed it or not."

Jesse hesitated, unsure if he should say anything. He knew Lake would be mortified if his family found out she had fallen out of bed.

"I didn't hear anything," his mother said.

"Hey dad," Jesse said, quickly changing the subject. "Do you think we could remove that mirror on the back of the guest room door?"

His father looked curiously over his newspaper. "Why?"

"I think it freaked Lake out a little. And to be honest, even though the Flecs were only chasing her, I still jump when I look into a mirror. I'm not surprised it makes her uncomfortable."

"I might be able to do something about that," his father said. "But son, I wanted to ask you something. You said those Flecs that she used to be running from, they were like the mirror police, right?"

"Yeah," Jesse said. "But unlike our police they were trying to kill her, not just catch her."

"I'm not sure I understand," his dad said. "If the police were after her then does that mean she did something wrong?"

"Apparently escaping the mirror world is a crime," Jesse explained as he stuffed a fork full of pancake into his mouth.

His dad pressed his lips together, his forehead creasing in confusion. "That seems like an unusually high punishment for just running away. Did she mention anything else that she did?"

His mother scoffed. "No matter what she did, there's no excuse for trying to kill a little girl. She must have been so scared…"

"I'm not saying there is," his father added quickly. "I'm just saying that maybe there was something else she did that she didn't mention to you, Jesse."

Jesse frowned. He didn't like where this was going. "Like what?"

"Well… how well do you really know her?" he asked.

Jesse felt a surge of protective energy. "She's my best friend, I'd say I know her pretty well."

"But you've only known her for a few weeks, right?" his father asked.

"Sure, but we've been through a lot together."

His dad sighed. "I know you have. There is just something strange with her story of how she got out of the mirror world. You never met Tulip on the train, right?"

"No, I never met her," Jesse said. "And what do you mean by strange? Everything was strange on the train."

"It's not what she told us that was strange," his dad said. "Although most of that was pretty bizarre. It's what she didn't tell us that I'm worried about. She didn't exactly say how she escaped or why Tulip was willing to help her even though it was breaking the law. I just get the impression that she's hiding something."

"Well, yeah…" Jesse agreed easily "Lake isn't the most open book. She wouldn't even tell me she was a reflection at first. I just thought she was a metal person. I had to hear it from the Flecs first before she came clean."

"That's strange," his father said. "Why would she want to hide that she was a reflection?"

Jesse shrugged. "Lots of reasons, but mostly because she was a wanted criminal and she didn't trust me."

"I think that there might be another reason," his dad said.

"Stephan," his mother said in a warning tone. "Don't start throwing around your wild theories. It's none of our business if Lake decides not to tell us certain things about herself."

"It's our business if someone is trapped where they shouldn't be," his dad countered.

"What are you talking about, dad?" Jesse asked, exchanging glances with Nate, but his brother seemed to be just as confused as he was.

"Lake mentioned this Chrome Car where she and Tulip had to switch places in order to open the door, right?" his dad asked. "Lake didn't go into detail about how she and Tulip both got out of the car, and I think there's a reason for that. I think that Lake switched places and left Tulip there in the mirror world."

Jesse stared. "What?"

"I don't have any proof," his dad said. "I just think that she's hiding something and that makes the most sense to me. And to be honest, Jesse, you're a very trusting guy. I'm just worried that you trusted her too fast and she may have taken advantage of that trust to get off the train. You don't really know her."

Jesse stood up in his seat. "No dad, you might not know her, but I do!" His heart pounded in his ears as he glared at his father. "I know I've only known her for a few weeks, but after everything we've been through, I feel like I've known her my entire life. And Lake would never do something like that. She's a good person. I don't know where Tulip is, but if Lake says she's fine, then I believe her."

His family was staring at him, taken aback by his sudden outburst. He realized he hadn't yelled at his parents for a long time, probably not since he was Nate's age. He always did what his parents said, even when he disagreed with them, but he couldn't just stand by and listen to his father accusing Lake.

"And Lake never took advantage of me. She's a good friend. I went back for her because I made her a promise. If it wasn't for her, I would have never gotten my number down and I would have never been able to escape the train in the first place."

"But son," his dad tried to reason. "Tell me this, why does Lake have a reflection? Does that make sense to you? What if that's Tulip and she's taken Lake's place in the mirror world?"

Jesse shook his head vigorously. "I-I don't know! I don't understand everything about how the mirror world works. Lake doesn't even know half the time! All I know is that I trust Lake and that's enough for me."

Heavy footfalls sounded behind him, and Jesse's mother's eyes widened in surprise as she looked past him. Jesse turned around to see Lake standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She had an unreadable expression on her face and her arms were crossed defensively across her chest.

"Lake…" Jesse began, but Lake's attention was focused angrily onto his father as she entered the room.

"Tulip Olsen," Lake said, her voice guarded. "She lives in North Branch Minnesota. If you look at the news reports you'll read about Tulip disappearing for a time and then reappearing months later. At least… I think you will. I don't know for sure that she got off the train, because I wasn't with her for that part, but she's smarter than me. So if I found a way to get off, then I'm sure she did too."

The room was still, hanging expectantly in Lake's last words, but no one else spoke. Jesse moved to stand next to Lake, but for some reason she refused to look at him.

"And as for why I have a reflection in the mirror," Lake continued, "That's just me. I'm my own reflection. It's something a reflection's body does because we have to show up in many reflective surfaces. That might not make sense to you, but that's how it works. So you can believe me or not, but that's the truth."

Nate shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his mother glanced over at his father. His father put down his newspaper and cleared his throat.

"Lake, I shouldn't have just spouted out wild theories like that," his father said. "I have nothing against you. It's just that Jesse can be easily swayed by his friends, and he's gullible. I was just worried."

"He has more of a backbone you might think," Lake defended, but then she hesitated, her expression softening. "But he can be pretty gullible," she admitted. "I guess I get why you would be worried."

"Hey!" Jesse protested. "I'm not that gullible."

She gave him a skeptical look. "You see the good in people, even if there isn't any. That can be dangerous. I hate to admit it, but you're dad's right, you shouldn't have trusted me as fast as you did. You didn't even start to doubt me until the Flecs got into your head, and even then you picked me over the law. I could have been lying to you."

"Maybe I just had a good feeling about you," Jesse said with a grin. "I listened to my gut."

"Like you did for the Apex?" she reminded him, and Jesse's heart sank.

"Okay, so maybe my gut hasn't always been the best," Jesse reasoned. "And maybe I can be a bit gullible, but I was right about you. After all, you're a good person."

Jesse's goal was to get Lake to smile, but instead, his words had the opposite effect and her expression completely shut down. She folded her arms around her chest tighter.

Concerned, Jesse reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but to his surprise, she turned away from him, moving her shoulder just slightly out of reach. His hand fell to his side in confusion.

"Even so," Jesse's dad continued. "I should have talked to you about my worries first. I feel bad about how I went about it. I'm sorry, Lake. You should feel welcome here, not like a criminal. I'm sure you've had enough of that already."

"It does get kind of old," Lake agreed, and Jesse could see her relax slightly at his dad's apology. "But… I get why you're suspicious of me. I would probably be the same. So if it will make you feel better, go ahead and look to see if Tulip made it back home. If you can't find it on the internet, I know a local number you can call and ask."

"Maybe I will later," Jesse's father said. "But right now, my wife made some pretty delicious pancakes. Please, come have some?"

Lake hesitated, and for one terrifying second, Jesse thought she was going to just turn around and walk out the front door. He wouldn't blame her, after what his father accused her of.

Instead, Lake carefully sat in the kitchen chair she had occupied last night. It protested her weight, but the sturdy wood chair held.

"I'm sorry about my husband." His mother said as she filled up a plate with the last of the pancakes. "He reads too many sci fi books."

Lake smiled at that, but Jesse could tell that the smile was forced. He sat next to her and ate the rest of his pancakes, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed sad, and Jesse couldn't tell if it was because of what his dad said, or if he had done something to upset her.

Jesse was almost done with his stack of pancakes when there was a loud knock on the door.

Lake froze, and Jesse met her panicked eyes.

Jesse's mother stood up and looked out the kitchen window.

"Why are the police here?" she asked.

Dread filled Jesse's chest. The police? What would they do if they saw Lake?

Lake looked seconds away from bolting out of the house through the back door. Jesse reached over and grabbed her hand, both to comfort her, and to assure himself that he wasn't going to lose her.

To his relief, Lake reciprocated the gestures and squeezed his hand.

"Oh… that's probably my fault," Jesse's father said regretfully.

"Stephan, what did you do?" His mother whirled around to glare down at his father.

"The police called our house this morning," his father explained. "They were going to give us an update on our missing persons case. I had to tell them that Jesse came home last night and was safe. They said they were going to send someone to take a statement from him. I didn't think they would send someone so quickly."

"What do we do?" Jesse asked. "What happens if they see Lake? And what should I tell them about where I was?"

"Are they going to take Lake away?" Nate asked fearfully.

"I'd like to see them try," Lake said in a low growl. "Compared to the Flecs, I doubt these Primes will be able to touch me." Lake got up from her seat and Jesse did the same, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

"Okay, calm down everyone," Jesse's father said. "They don't know about Lake yet, and we can keep it that way."

There was another hard knock on the door and the policeman introduced himself through the door as officer Gonzalez.

"All they want is a statement from Jesse," his father said in his calm voice. "Lake can go upstairs until he leaves. There should be no reason for him to go up there. Nate, you can keep her company, and we'll call for you if there are any issues."

"What do I tell the officer?" Jesse asked. "He won't believe me about the train. Should I make something up about where I was?"

"You telling a lie?" Lake asked skeptically. "I doubt you could lie to save your life."

"It doesn't matter what you tell him," his father said. "If you lie he'll probably be able to tell, and if you tell the truth he won't believe you. Just tell him whatever you want, but don't mention Lake."

The officer rang the doorbell.

His mother wrapped her arms around Lake's shoulders. "Lake, let's get you upstairs, honey. Come on."

Lake looked at Jesse worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'll talk with the officer and I'll come upstairs and get you when he leaves. Everything will be fine," Jesse promised.

Lake nodded, let go of his hand, and followed Nate up the stairs. As soon as Jesse was sure Lake was out of sight, he turned nervously towards the front door.

He wasn't sure he had it in him to lie, which meant this officer was about to hear one unbelievable story.

* * *

Nate led her upstairs to what looked like a small study. It had a desk with a computer, a bookshelf full of books, and a reading chair in the corner with it's own lamp.

"This is my dad's study," Nate said while shutting the door behind them. "But he doesn't use it much because he's usually in the garage working. Me and Jesse come up here to play on the computer when mom is using the TV downstairs."

Lake strained her ears to listen for the sounds of the police officer entering the house.

She knew logically that it made sense for the police to want to talk to Jesse after he had been missing for so long. She also knew there was no reason for the police officer to want to check upstairs.

On the other hand, Jesse's dad had been suspicious of her and he had admitted to talking to police earlier this morning. Was it too paranoid to think that maybe Jesse's father had told the police about her? Maybe he was hoping the police would take her away? He wouldn't be the first person to try and stack the odds against her.

"What does your dad do?" Lake asked. She could hear the sounds of Jesse talking to the officer, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

"He owns his own business fixing up houses so they can be sold for more money. The garage is full of his unfinished projects."

Lake glanced at the only window in the room. If she heard the officer climbing up the stairs, could she jump out of the window without being seen? Even if Jesse's father told the police officer about her, if he never gets any proof, then they won't believe him, right?"

"Lake?" Nate's voice brought her back to the room. "I'm sorry about what my dad said. He just worries sometimes."

Lake shook her head. That was the thing. It wasn't about what Mr. Cosay said that necessarily upset her, it was what Jesse had said in her defense. How could Lake be upset at Mr. Cosay for suggesting that she had tried to trap Tulip in the mirror world, when he had been right? It was Jesse that defended her. Jesse who said that Lake was a good person and could never do such a thing. At the end of the day, Mr. Cosay had been right and Jesse had been wrong.

Lake had spent her entire time free from the mirror world fighting to prove that she was a person. In all that time, she had never once stopped to consider if she was even a good person.

However, Jesse seemed completely convinced that she could've never hurt Tulip or done anything wrong. A part of her wanted to hug him for standing up for her without a moment's hesitation, and the other part of her wanted to yell at him for being so trusting and naive. She wasn't the person he thought she was, and that was the painful truth.

If he were to find out the truth about everything that she had done, all the people that she had hurt, or was willing to hurt for her own selfish reasons, Lake knew he would hate her. That's why she was determined to make sure that he never found out.

"No, it's okay," Lake said at last. "I honestly have no right to be mad at your dad for that, trust me."

"Oh, okay, that's good." Nate said simply. He seemed as eager to move on with the conversation as she was. "Well… did you want to watch a movie? My dad has a pretty big movie collection on his computer."

Lake listened, but she didn't hear the sounds of anyone coming up the stairs. She supposed she could watch a movie and listen for a potential ambush at the same time.

"Sure," she said with a shrug. "Which ones do you have?"

Nate showed her the list of movies his father had downloaded on his computer. In the end, Lake picked a comedy that Nate recommended. Lake hadn't seen many movies in their entirety, since she usually had to watch or listen to them from small reflective surfaces in the Olsen living room, such as someone's phone or a glass of water.

In the end, she had chosen the movie School of Rock, since Tulip had only seen part of it, and Lake had always wanted to watch the entire movie. Something about the kids learning to make music grabbed her attention, even though she wasn't sure why. Tulip was never serious about learning to play music, so Lake didn't know much about it.

Nate grabbed blankets and pillows from his room and he and Lake sat on the floor, staring up at the computer playing the movie. Lake was leaning against the far wall next to the door, which made it easy for her to hear if anyone came up the stairs.

They were about thirty minutes in, and she was thoroughly enjoying the movie, when Nate called her name.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked. Lake could see him fidgeting out of the corner of her eye.

Lake suppressed a sigh. "Is it about the mirror world?"

"No, it's about the train and Jesse."

Curious, Lake looked over at Nate. "Okay shoot."

To her surprise, Nate didn't just start asking his question. Instead, he got up, went to the computer, and paused the movie.

He nervously took his previous seat next to her, but instead of leading against the wall like he had been before, he sat cross legged and faced her.

"I know Jesse tried to explain it to me, but I don't really understand why he was on the train. Did he do something wrong? And if… if I do something wrong will the train take me too?"

The unmistakable look of fear in his eyes caused Lake to sit forward, giving him all her attention. She knew she had to correct him before he started worrying that he would be taken by the train for talking back to his parents or forgetting to do his homework.

"No, it doesn't work like that," Lake assured him quickly. "The train doesn't take you because you did something wrong. It's not a punishment. It's supposed to help you work out your problems."

"Then why did Jesse get taken? He doesn't have any problems. Everybody likes him and he never gets into trouble."

Lake rolled her eyes affectionately. "Yeah, I know, he's a great guy, and he's everyone's friend, but there's such a thing as being_ too_ nice."

Nate stared at her uncomprehendingly. "What do you mean? How can you be too nice?"

Lake motioned to his hurt arm. "Well, he was nice to his buddies, but because of that, he didn't exactly stand up to his friends to protect you, did he?"

Nate recoiled and looked down at his arm in embarrassment. "It- it wasn't his fault. He didn't mean to-"

"But he didn't stop it either." Lake pointed out. "And that makes it partially his fault."

"But he apologized!" Nate defended, his eyes starting to water. "It… it was a mistake…"

Lake held up her hands. "Whoa, I know," she assured him. "I know how badly he feels about what he did to you. Jesse knows it's more important to stand up for what he believes in than it is to be liked. That's the lesson the train wanted to teach him, I guess. I think it's dumb to kidnap someone just to force them to learn a lesson…. But that's how the train works."

"But Jesse shouldn't have to stop being nice. It's it a good thing to be liked by people?" Nate asked.

"Jesse doesn't have to stop being nice, he just needs to practice being able to say no, even if people get mad at him for it. He can't make everyone happy, and he should be able to do what he wants to do." Lake chuckled. "I guess I'm the opposite. I do what I want and I don't care if I piss off other people. I guess that's why most people don't like me," she said with a shrug. "Besides Jesse of course, but he likes everyone."

"Well… I like you," Nate said shyly. "You're nice."

Lake blinked. "Oh…" she rubbed the back of her neck. She had never been called nice before. "Umm, thanks, Nate. You're pretty cool too."

Nate smiled, but there was something distant about his expression.

"Are you okay?" Lake asked.

"I just wish I had passed the man test," Nate admitted in a rush. "If I hadn't gotten hurt Jesse wouldn't have felt bad and he wouldn't have gotten taken by the stupid train. It's my fault-"

"No!" Lake shouted, pounding her fist on the carpeted floor for emphasis. The resounding thump was louder than she expected, and both she and Nate froze, listening for the sounds of movement downstairs. When no one came up the stairs to investigate, Lake looked over at Nate.

"Listen to me Nate, Jesse being taken by the train is not your fault. If it hadn't been for that incident, Jesse would have gone along with something else that those goons wanted to do and he would've felt bad for it later. It was only a matter of time before he ended up on that train. It was Jesse that had a lesson to learn, not you."

"I was really worried when he never came home," Nate said with a sniff as he used the back of his hands to wipe the tears from his eyes. "I kept thinking that if I had only stayed there with him then he wouldn't have gone missing."

Lake shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't sure what to do when people cried. What came out of her mouth next was unbidden and completely honest.

"It's not your fault, Nate, trust me. It was a supernatural train. It would have picked Jesse up no matter what. And even though it kidnapped your brother for a few weeks, I'm kind of glad it did…" Lake admitted. "I would have never gotten off the train without him. I'm sorry, that probably sounds really selfish."

Nate shook his head, a small smile growing on his face. "No, it's okay. Even though I was really scared that I would never see my brother again, I'm glad that Jesse was able to help you get off the train. So even though I missed him, it was worth it."

Lake stared at the young boy in front her, suddenly overwhelmed by his kindness even though he never met her before. He was definitely Jesse's brother.

"Thanks Nate. Now, come on, let's finish the movie."

Nate smiled, a real smile this time. "Okay!"

* * *

**So what do you guys think of the Cosay family so far?**

**Don****'****t forget to comment!**


	6. One Small Act

**Chapter 6: One Small Act**

* * *

Talking to the policeman had taken longer than Jesse expected. Officer Gonzalez had a lot of questions and Jesse tried to answer them as honestly as he could without mentioning Lake.

After the long conversation with the policeman, Jesse headed upstairs. He was about to head to Lake's room when he heard the sounds of a movie playing behind his dad's study door.

He knocked. "It's Jesse," he announced himself.

"Password?" Lake's voice said through the door. He could hear Nate snickering on the other side.

Jesse grinned and said the first thing that came to mind. "Alan Dracula."

There was a pause and then… "You may enter." The door opened for him.

The first thing he saw was Lake sitting back down against the wall with a pillow. Nate was sitting at the wall with his own pillow to her right. The familiar sounds of a movie played on the computer screen.

"Aw man, I love the movie," Jesse bemoaned as soon as he recognized the movie Lake and his brother were watching without him.

"Shhh," Lake hushed. "It's almost over."

"Is this the part when-" Jesse started to ask when Lake threw her pillow at his head. She always had dead-on aim.

"Shh!" she insisted.

Jesse took the pillow that was thrown at him and used it as a cushion as he sat against the door next to Lake. After talking to the policeman for over an hour, it was nice to sit down and just watch a movie. Jesse had already seen this movie multiple times, and he found himself more entertained by Lake's reactions than the movie itself.

Jesse suddenly felt overwhelmingly grateful that Lake had been able to get off the train. How close had they come to this moment not existing?

When the movie ended, Jesse got up and turned off the movie player.

"How was the interrogation?" Lake asked him.

"He was definitely not expecting a story about a kidnapping infinite train," Jesse said with a laugh. "He asked a lot of questions. I'm pretty sure he thought I was either lying or crazy. He gave my parents quite a lot of concerned looks."

"I'm not surprised," she said dryly. "You probably sounded like a lunatic."

Jesse held out a hand down towards Lake to help her up. "Come on," he said. When she gave him a confused look, he explained further. "We have to go through my wardrobe and find clothes for you, remember?"

Lake sent an amused glance towards his offered hand before grabbing it firmly. He pulled hard in an attempt to pull her onto her feet, but at the same time she pulled down to help herself up. Jesse was instantly yanked down towards her, nearly landing on top of her.

Lake laughed loudly as Jesse struggled to clamber back onto his feet.

"Okay… that was a stupid idea," he admitted, but was grinning through his embarrassment.

"You think?" Lake said as she got to her feet. She was still shaking her head in amusement when she turned to Nate. "Care to help me raid Jesse's closet?" she asked.

Nate's whole face lit up. "Really? I can come too?"

"Of course," Lake said without a second thought. "I need someone with good taste to help me pick out some good clothes, and we both know Jesse isn't going to be any help."

"Hey! I'll have you know I have excellent taste!" Jesse defended.

Nate was smiling widely and practically vibrating with excitement as he followed them out of their dad's study into his room. Jesse stared as Nate rushed past him. Nate had never been very interested in picking out clothes before.

Maybe it had something to do with Lake? Nate always wanted to hang out with Jesse when he was with his friends, but many of Jesse's friends complained that it was annoying to have a little kid hanging around. How many times had Nate asked to come along only for one of Jesse's friends to tell him that he couldn't come? How many times had Jesse allowed this to happen?

Jesse suddenly felt a crushing sensation of overwhelming guilt press down against his chest. He really hadn't been the best brother to Nate… had he?

The guilt eased somewhat has he watched Lake and his brother chat together all the way to his room. Lake hadn't found Nate annoying or bothersome. She seemed to like Nate almost instantly, and with how guarded Lake usually was around new people, the fact that she was already so comfortable around Nate said something. She had even invited him along without hesitation.

As Lake and Nate talked and laughed, Jesse noticed many of the jokes between them were at his expense. Lake sent him a few michemious glances in order to gauge his reaction, to which he just rolled his eyes in good humor. Being ganged up on by his brother and his best friend was going to grow old very quickly, but it was worth it to see them getting along.

Nate was the first to enter Jesse's room and he took a seat on his bed. Jesse opened the closet and began rummaging through the contents, his mind on a specific article of clothing.

"Before we start and pick out which clothes you like best, you definitely need to have one thing in your wardrobe. This is non negotiable."

"Okay I'll bite," Lake said as she tried to peer over his shoulder. "What is it?"

Jesse pulled out two articles of clothing hanging on two seperate hangers, one green and one black.

"Everyone needs a comfy jacket in their life," Jesse said as he held up the two zip-up hoodies. "Which color do you want, I have a black one and a green one. They might be a bit big on you, but that just makes them more comfy."

Something Jesse couldn't quite describe flickered across Lake's face when she looked at the green jacket. He wanted to ask, but he couldn't think of the words to form the question.

Without deliberation, Lake reached for the black one. "Definitely this one. It's more my style."

Jesse allowed his half-formed question to fade away as he smiled. "Good choice."

After about ten minutes of Jesse showing Lake a few outfits from his closet, Jesse could tell she was quickly losing interest.

"I'm not sure any of this is… my style," Lake said at last.

Lake pulled out a coral polo shirt that Jesse had placed on the bed next to Nate and held it up to herself. It clashed horribly both against her skin and personality. "I feel like your style is either prep or jock… or somehow a weird combination of the two."

"That's not true," Jesse assured her. "I actually went through a lot of different phases, especially in middle school. I think most of those clothes are in the back of the closet though."

"You're hippie phase was hilarious," Nate said with a giggle. "You had so many tie dye shirts."

Jesse blushed. "It wasn't a hippie phase, I just had some friends that were really into yoga." His blush grew deeper. "I made the tie dye shirts for fun."

Lake rolled her eyes. "You would."

"You know what style you might look cool in?" Nate said. "Jesse's emo phase."

Lake snickered. "You had an emo phase?"

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck. "It was only for a few weeks, but yeah. I'm pretty sure I still have the clothes…"

"Jesse was never able to pull the style off, but I bet you could!" Nate said eagerly.

"What do you mean I wasn't able to pull it off?" Jesse asked, offended. "I looked cool… right?"

"Umm…"

"Let me guess, you made friends with the emo kids and started dressing like them?" Lake asked with a knowing grin.

"Basically," Jesse said, "But eventually I got sick of wearing black. I kept their awesome music recommendations though, and I still hang out with them sometimes." Jesse smiled fondly. "Anyway," he continued, "My emo clothes are from back in middle school, so they'll probably fit you."

Lake stared at the clothes that Jesse pulled out of his closet. Skinny jeans with tears above the knee, a fake leather jacket, monochrome shirts, deep red shirts with too many zippers…

"What do you think?" Jesse asked.

Lake smiled. "I think... I can work with this."

* * *

"Is Lake coming down for lunch?" his mother asked. "You dad almost has the hamburgers grilled up."

"Yeah, she'll be down soon," Jesse said. "She's just changing into the new clothes I gave her."

"I can't wait to see how she looks," Nate said excitedly from his seat at the table next to him.

Jesse heard heavy footfalls coming down the stairs. He looked up to see his best friend standing in the doorway with black skinny jeans with rips just above the knee, and a deep red sleeveless shirt, which was mostly covered by his fake leather jacket. He had to admit the outfit looked way better on Lake than it ever had on him.

"So what do you think?" Lake asked, her hands on her hips.

"Cool..." Nate said in awe.

Jesse gave her a thumbs up. "You look great!"

His mother smiled. "Oh, I remember when you used to wear that, Jesse! I'm glad you gave that outfit to Lake. It never really… fit your personality."

"Okay, I get it! Lake looks better in my emo clothes than I do." Jesse sighed dramatically and closed his eyes. "I guess I wasn't meant to be edgy."

There was a small, painful flick to his forehead. He glared up at Lake while his hand went to his forehead to rub it.

"Oh, stop whining," she said. "Your adorable friendly-puppy personality doomed you from pulling off anything remotely edgy, but at least you can pull off the soft boy aesthetic." She flicked the back of her hand, and the harsh metal reverberated through the air. "I definitely can't."

"Adorable?" Jesse repeated, his smile growing.

"Oh no…" Lake groaned.

"Mom, did you just hear that? Lake called me adorable!"

"I'm going to call you something else in a minute…" Lake muttered under her breath, but she was fighting back a smile.

Jesse's father came in with a plate full of grilled burgers.

"Thanks dear," his mom said as she kissed her husband on his cheek.

Her mother began assembling the burgers with the buns, lettuce, and tomatoes that she had laid out on the kitten counter. "Lake, sweetie, you said you didn't like onions right?" his mother asked.

Lake blinked in surprise. "No... I don't."

"No problem, I'll make one without onions for you."

"Um, thank you," Lake said with a grateful, if not a somewhat stunned, smile.

His father's burgers were delicious as always. Jesse leaned back in his chair as he digested his food. The train food was fun and interesting, but there was nothing like home-cooked food made from the comfort of his home.

"Lake," Jesse's mother said as she grabbed her emptied plate and stood up from the table. "I was thinking, we should take you to the mall tomorrow and get you a wardrobe of your own."

Before Lake could open her mouth, his dad interrupted. "Is that a good idea, Whittney?"

"What do you mean?" his mother asked.

"No offense to you, Lake," his father said after a moment of hesitation. "But you stand out and people are going to ask questions. I'm not sure a mall is a good idea."

"Well, she can't stay hidden away all her life," his mother argued.

"I'm not saying she has to hide away forever," his dad explained slowly. "But I'm not sure bringing her to a crowded mall is the best idea."

His mother waved away his dad's concern with her hand. "We'll go early in the morning so there won't be too many people. Besides, eventually Lake will have to meet people when she starts school."

"School?" his dad asked in surprise.

At the same time, Lake also squeaked out: "School?"

"You can't be serious," his dad said. "She can go to school… right?" He looked around, unsure. "She doesn't have a birth certificate or any medical records."

"They can't keep her from enrolling, that's illegal!" his mother countered. "Kids have to go to school. If I have to, I'll go down to the district office myself and talk with them."

"What is she supposed to tell everyone about who she is?" his dad asked. "I don't think the truth is a good idea."

"I don't see why that's any of their business," his mother said, crossing her arms. "She doesn't have to tell them anything she doesn't want to."

"I don't think that's going to-"

"Guys," Jesse interrupted loudly, cutting off his father. "Why don't we ask Lake what she wants? It's her life, after all."

The adults at the table looked over at Lake, who was biting her lip and staring down at her empty plate.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen if people see me," Lake said slowly. "They might freak out, and it's not exactly easy to explain why I'm metal." She hesitated, but then her eyes snapped up to look at them. Her eyes were hard and full of determination, a look Jesse had seen on her multiple times on the train. "But I'm tired of hiding. I'm off the train and I want to live my life. I want to go to school, I want to make friends, and I even want to go to prom, as stupid as that sounds." Lake let out a bitter laugh as she shook her head. "I want to do everything that I was told I couldn't do."

Jesse grinned. "Then we'll help you," he promised and reached over to place a hand on her own.

"Of course we will," his mother said firmly. "We'll figure it out, don't worry. We'll deal with the details when the time comes."

"It would be awesome to go to school together." Jesse said. "How old are you anyway?" It was strange to realize that he didn't even know the age of his best friend.

"Well, technically Tulip turned fourteen last month… so I guess fourteen?"

"Sweet! That means you'll be a freshman! You can go to my high school with me!"

"Are you sure this is what you want, Lake?" Jesse's dad asked. "It's not that I don't want you to go to the mall, or school, but you have to understand that there will be people that won't be very accepting. They might not treat you fairly."

Lake scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I'm used to that. I've never let it stop me before."

His dad gave a thinned-lipped, humorless smile. "I just want you to be prepared. I know it might sound paranoid, but once you go out into the world, you might not be… entirely safe. I have no idea what the police or government might do when they find out about you."

Jesse's gut sank at the somber tone in his father's voice. His father was right. As much as Jesse liked to think that the government hunting down aliens or identified creatures to study was just in the movies, it could actually happen to his best friend.

Lake, however, didn't waver. "Again, been there, done that. I can take care of myself."

"Be that as it may," his mother said in a brisk voice. "You're not alone anymore. We're here to help, right Stephan?"

His dad didn't answer, and instead he seemed deep in thought. "Maybe we can look into getting you refugee status. I'm not sure how that would work. I would have to make some calls..."

"We can worry about all that later," his mother said. "There are still a few months before school starts, so we have some time to figure it out. Tomorrow morning we'll go to the mall and get you a new wardrobe. How does that sound, Lake?"

Lake shifted next to him uncomfortably. "You really don't have to do all that, I'm fine-"

"You can't just use Jesse's old clothes," his mother insisted. "Especially if you are going to start school. If you're comfortable with going to the mall, then we will go tomorrow, okay?."

Lake looked over at Jesse. He did his best to not look worried and gave her a thumbs up.

"Okay… thank you."

* * *

The rest of the day was spent introducing Lake to things he likes to do while at home. He played more music for her and introduced her to one of his favorite video games.

After explaining the controls he allowed her to create her own character and start the game from the beginning. She picked up on the mechanics of the game faster than most new players did.

Jesse and Lake spend hours exploring the fantasy world in the game. Jesse was glad he could give Lake something to do that was relaxing and fun. She deserved to do something fun now that she was free.

Jesse found his eyes growing heavy as he watched Lake make her way across a mountainside. He learned back against the couch… his eyes growing heavy.

"Jesse…"

"Jesse…"

He felt something heavy on his shoulder. He cracked his eye open at the sound of his mother's voice.

"Hmm?" He muttered.

"Wake up, sweetie," his mother said.

He looked around to see that he was still on the couch, and the game they were playing was still on the tv screen. He looked over to his right where Lake had been sitting only to find the source of the pressure against his shoulder. Lake had fallen asleep against his shoulder, the controller still in her hand.

They both hadn't gotten a good night's sleep the night before, so it wasn't surprising they had fallen asleep while playing the game.

Jesse winced as he tried to wiggle the fingers of the hand Lake had fallen asleep on, only to discover that his arm had fallen asleep and gone numb under her weight.

His mother was raising an eyebrow at him. "I think it's time for bed, don't you?"

Jesse let out a yawn. "I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Why don't you wake up Lake and you kids can get to bed."

Jesse looked over at Lake snoring lightly on his shoulder. A mischievous look crossed his face. Using the hand that was not currently pinned under his sleeping friend, he brought his fingers close to her forehead and flicked her once.

His fingers stung, but he bit back a yelp- he had been prepared for the pain this time.

"Jesse!" His mother admonished him.

"It's okay mom, it's an inside joke… and it's not like I can hurt her."

Lake stirred and cracked one eye open, glaring up at him.

"Did you just… flick me?" She asked.

"Not the most pleasant way to be woken up, is it?" He teased. "Also, you're sleeping on my arm and I can't feel my fingers."

It was Lake's turn to grin at him. "I don't know if I feel like getting up," she said as she leaned more of her weight on him, crushing his arm further. It was uncomfortable but not painful. "Also you make a good squishy pillow."

"Sorry mother, as you can see I'm stuck." Jesse said. "I'll probably lose the hand too," he added dramatically.

Lake seemed to finally notice his mother. Although a sheepish smile crossed her face, she didn't move away from him.

His mom chucked. "Well you only need on hand to help us carry our bags at the mall tomorrow, so that's okay."

"Hey!" Jessie said while Lake laughed.

"We'll leave early in the morning around nine-thirty. There shouldn't be many people there at that time. Does that sound alright?"

Jesse looked at Lake, a flash of nervousness crossed her face, but only for a second.

Lake nodded. "Yeah that's fine," she said.

"You two obviously need a good night's sleep, so get to bed soon, alright?"

"We will, mom."

Once his mom had gone upstairs, Lake stretched and finally got off his shoulder. Jesse shook out his hand, his feeling slowly coming back. After turning off the game, he and Lake headed upstairs for bed.

* * *

After Lake said her goodnights to Jesse, she tried her best not to think about tomorrow.

What she said was true, she didn't want to hide now that she was free. She wanted the freedom to be able to go out to the mall or go to school, but she was still nervous about how people would react to her. At least with Jesse's parents, she was able to explain where she came from. She didn't want to have to explain herself to every stranger. She didn't want them to know where she came from, or to answer endless questions about the mirror world

She just wanted to be able to move on and live her life.

Jesse's family had been accepting of her… for the most part. His father had been polite enough, but he was definitely worried that she was a threat to his family based off of the accusations he made at breakfast. Even though he did apologize and Lake understood where he was coming from, it still hurt.

However, Lake knew that there would be many humans like him, and worse.

Jesse's father was right, this wasn't going to be easy.

Would it even be possible for people to learn to accept her?

Lake glanced up from her bed, expecting to see the mirror covered up by the dark blanket only to find the door mirrorless. There were screw marks on the door indicating that the mirror had been removed.

When had...

Then she remembered Jesse asking his father to remove it for her sake earlier this morning when she had come down the stairs and overheard their conversation. Jesse's father had said that he might remove the mirror, but Lake didn't think he would get to it so soon.

Had he done it because Jesse asked… or for her?

Lake changed into her sleeping clothes and crawled into bed. She could feel her eyelids already growing heavy.

Maybe Jesse's father needed time to adjust, but that didn't mean he couldn't learn to accept her. And if he could, then maybe there was hope that others would too?

It might take time, and the task of fitting into this world seemed incredibly daunting, but that mirrorless door, that one small act of kindness, gave her hope.

* * *

**Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I updated! How are the first five episode of book 3 treating everyone...?**

**I definitely was inspired to post this new chapter because book 3 is coming out and by the lovely people that encouraged me and sent me messages about this fic, thank you! Honestly, I've been busy on other fics, so I'm not sure when the next chapter of this fic will be out. It will probably be updated randomly, whenever I get the inspiration. But thank you all for your patience and I hope you liked this chapter!**


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